Why Courteney Cox Didn't Let Her Daughter Coco Start Acting As A Child

There's no shortage of celebrity children following in their famous parents' footsteps in Hollywood. But that's not the case with Courteney Cox and David Arquette's daughter, Coco, whom they welcomed in June 2004. While Coco has made guest appearances in her mother's "Cougar Town," she has mostly led a life out of the spotlight. She graduated high school in 2022 with college plans lined up, like a regular teen — though Coco had a change of heart. 

Instead of going to college right away, Coco decided to take a gap year before leaving home. "I kind of call it a nap year, but she needed it," the "Friends" star joked on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" in March 2023. "It's good. She's been home, so I haven't had that empty nest thing yet." As the daughter of two actors, Coco has always been interested in that career path, as well as having a passion for singing. "She's done plays since she was in kindergarten. Probably like 33 musical theater plays."

As such, Cox anticipates Coco will explore musical theater in the future. And Coco hopes to do that exploring far from home. "She's going to go as far away from L.A. as she can get," Cox said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2022. "We're so close, but she just can't wait to go away and live on her own." Whether or not her musical theatre plans work out is yet to be seen, but there's a good reason Cox didn't let her daughter get into showbiz as a child.

Coco Arquette has artistic blood running through her veins. Courteney Cox often flaunts Coco's voice on Instagram, showing she's confident enough to sing with icons like Ed Sheeran and Elton John. Her parents couldn't be more proud. "She's an incredible singer and she loves acting," David Arquette told ET in 2021. A career in the industry isn't what Cox had envisioned for her daughter, though she'll support her either way.

"I don't think I'll have a choice because she's such a showgirl," Cox said on "Anderson Live" in 2012. "She's really, um, she's out there." Arquette was on the same page regarding Coco's upbringing. "We've made sure not to do anything professional and just ... let her be a kid," he said. But Arquette agrees with his ex-wife that Coco has a future in the entertainment industry. "It's getting more serious now and, you know, the performances even are becoming more, you know, polished," he gushed. "So it's exciting to see."

And she seems to have what it takes. Coco has proved to have the charisma necessary to make it in the business since she was itty-bitty, which Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest have witnessed firsthand. "I remember her always being funny, too," Ripa told Cox on the episode of "Live with Kelly and Ryan" in March 2023. "You brought her here a couple of times years ago, she was little, but she has that charm and just great sense of humor."

With the glitz and glam that come with a career in entertainment also comes plenty of hardships, as Courteney Cox and David Arquette know well. That's why they've been preparing Coco for what's to come. "She's really so much more talented than I could ever imagine. So I just try to tell her, 'Don't take rejection personally. It's a business that is mostly rejection,'" Arquette told Us Weekly in 2022. Arquette works hard on teaching her about expectations. "If she doesn't get a part in the school play she was hoping for, I just walk her through it. 'There will be other stuff to try,'" he explained.

Cox is prepping Coco for the future using entirely different methods. "She is tortured by me saying, 'Can we do something for Instagram...?' I have to negotiate," she told Extra in 2022. "I use her for Instagram and she knows it and she really rebels. Since she's going to be in the business ... she's going to have to get used to eyes on her." Cox's coaxing techniques must be effective, considering Coco seems comfortable in front of the camera.

Arquette sees it, too. "She has got more confidence than I ever had performing. So I think she'll be great," he said in the 2021 Entertainment Tonight interview. But success isn't what matters most to Arquette and Cox. "As long as she does something she loves, that's all we want," Arquette said.